Mrs. Frieda’s Halfway Home is a veritable hive of children, all gathered from abusive and terrible families. These terrible and freakish children try to enjoy their lives, knowing they may never be adopted, and sometimes fail miserably at this. Here, everyone’s got a secret to hide–some heavier than others.

It’s the last day of summer. The sun is rising, birds are singing, and Emma wakes up to see someone’s head peering in the window. She blinks, and the head is gone.

Instead, a sack is sitting on the windowsill. The bottom is moist and bloodstained. It’s filled with ripped shreds of bloody meat. Someone, it seems, has left a present for Manny.

Nevertheless, there are other pressing concerns: doctor’s notes to get out of gym must be acquired, Julie Williams must be visited in the hospital, Uncle V’s coming by to treat Manny to a bass of his own, and even though no one remembered, Scott turned 13 last week.

It’s the last day of summer and an awesome – if belated – birthday party must be organized. The last diem of summer must be carpe’d, at all costs.

Welcome back to the city of Troy, home to monsters, devils, and the kids from Mrs. Frieda’s Halfway Home for Terrible Freakish Children.

This session focuses on the part of the gang who are attending Madison Faire, Troy’s High School, for the first time. Home of the Fighting Minotaurs, chock full of bizarre teachers and mysterious lunch meat, the High School holds many surprises.

New faces are introduced, old faces are back, and somebody auto-tunes a rabbit.

Summer is over. It’s the first day of school, and it’s going to be one you can never forget.

The kids have survived their first day of school! Slightly weary, and more than slightly weirded out, they return home, ready for a relaxing afternoon of taking care of business. Nothing can go wrong now.

Minus the fact that August’s been missing for two weeks. They’re not sure how they let that happen. Truancy officers have come to the Halfway House looking for him, and he’s not answering his door.

August, you see, has started down a very strange path. It’s old, so old, and coated in spiderwebs. He’s not sure where it leads, but he knows that somewhere, the Spider Queen is waiting for him. She holds the key to his history, and his family, and the reasons why his body has begun to develop such frightening characteristics.

It’s Saturday, and the kids finally have a day to themselves. School is HARD. Of course, a free day can’t go without an adventure…

This one begins with a text message, and a beaten up coffee can. Inside, riches, and a note. This discovery will begin a treasure hunt that will crisscross Troy and lead the kids back into their own history.

Someone, it seems, has been paying particularly close attention to what they’ve been doing this summer. It’s up to the kids to track down the mystery before whatever’s behind it decides to stop playing games.